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Two officeholders come up short in statewide races

November 7, 2012

Two officeholders with Washington County ties were apparently unsuccessful Tuesday in their first runs for statewide office.

With 91 percent of the vote tallied statewide, Washington County Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan had 43.3 percent of the vote to 53.3 percent for incumbent Democratic Treasurer Rob McCord of Montgomery County, who was seeking a second term.

In the race for state auditor general, state Rep. John Maher, R-Upper St. Clair, had 45.7 percent of the vote to 50.5 percent for Eugene DePasquale III of York.

Irey Vaughan wasn’t conceding the race late Tuesday.

“We’re going to continue to monitor the results,” she said Tuesday night at the Doubletree Hotel, Meadow Lands. She allowed that her vigil would go on “perhaps into the wee hours of the morning.”

As expected, she carried Washington County, amassing 46,055 votes to McCord’s 38,350, but McCord carried Greene County with 6,201 with 43 of 44 precincts reporting.

Maher, whose 40th District includes Peters Township in Washington County plus Maher’s home community and Bethel Park, adopted as his slogan “a CPA for PA auditor general” in his race against DePasquale.

Maher also carried Washington County with 44,730 votes to DePasquale’s 39,074, and in Greene County, he eeked out a win with 5,877 votes to DePasquale’s 5,694.

Maher had not made an appearance at his viewing party the Crowne Plaza hotel in Bethel Park late Tuesday and was not available for comment.